Equipment review: ironmaster dumbbells

[pelagius]

Now that I live in the country the gym is a lot less convenient than ever before for me. Consequently, I have been beefing up my home gym. My lastest purchase is a set of ironmaster dumbbells. This is a specialized adjustable dumbbell set. I can go from 5 to 120 pounds.

They are a bit on the pricey side but buying fixed dumbbells ranging up to 120 pounds would cost you a fortune (unless you are very lucky on craigslist).

So far I am impressed with the quality; they feel quite solid. As least as solid as pro style dumbbells and definitely more compact than pro styles that use the rubber coated plates (getting more and more common). It is pretty quick to do weight changes ... If you like to do a lot of supersets then these will slow you done a bit but otherwise not at all.

Here are a couple of photos of mine as 65 pound dumbbells.





I will say some more about them when I have chance to use them in a workout.

[Donuthole]

Those look like a nice option between Powerblocks and Bowfles Selectech. The Powerblocks feel a little gimmicky, and Selectechs are around $600.

http://www.powerblock.com/

http://www.bowflexselecttech.com/bst...e/products.jsp

[BigPiney]

I would love to get something like that, where chinging the weight on the dumbells is easy and it is all in one, but I never will because of the price. Yikes.

[pelagius]

Those look like a nice option between Powerblocks and Bowfles Selectech. The Powerblocks feel a little gimmicky, and Selectechs are around $600.

http://www.powerblock.com/

http://www.bowflexselecttech.com/bst...e/products.jsp

I have used the powerblocks. The weight changes are quicker ... That is the primary advantage. You are more likely to get rattling and you definitely can't drop them. The ironmasters you can drop and they are still covered by warranty. Also, the hand enclosure on the powerblocks can be confining. Still, powerblocks are a good quality option.

In my view, the selecttechs are garbage. It is low quality despite the price.

[PaloAltoCougar]

In my view, the selecttechs are garbage. It is low quality despite the price.

I almost bought Selectechs yesterday on Craigslist. They were in excellent condition and came with the stand and the bench, and everything combined was "only" $450. But I hesitated and they're gone. Perhaps this is a good thing. Any specific reason why they're garbage? I've never actually held them, but I really like the quick change feature.

[SteelBlue]

I got very lucky a few years back when a friend of mine had to move out of his house and was loathe to pack up his entire home gym. I got a full rack of dumbbells from 25-55 (rack included), a flat/incline bench, an olympic bar, 4-45's, 2-35's, 2-25's, 4-10's and 2-5's, a tree for the plates and a heavy duty but not easy to use squat rack for $400.

[pelagius]

I almost bought Selectechs yesterday on Craigslist. They were in excellent condition and came with the stand and the bench, and everything combined was "only" $450. But I hesitated and they're gone. Perhaps this is a good thing. Any specific reason why they're garbage? I've never actually held them, but I really like the quick change feature.

Well, maybe I am being too hard on them. Like the powerblocks they are quick to make changes in weight. So that is a nice feature. The design is bulky ... it isn't compact at all ... that doesn't matter for 30 pounds but it does for heavier weight (although even at 30 pounds I don't like the feel or balance off them). They don't feel like real dumbbells (I also dislike this aspect of the powerblocks). They don't feel solid. They are fragile ... sure, no one should abuse their equipment but if you are working close to failure sometimes things get dropped or at least put down in a non gentle way. That mechanism won't hold up to that.

On equipment forums there have been reports of of rattling or even weights falling out. But those reports are second hand to me. I have only used the selectechs in a store. Also, only going up to 90 pounds is limiting and the original 52.5 pounds was really limiting.

The shorter answer is that they probably just way overpriced instead of garbage. If you can pick up a pair for a cheap ...

[pelagius]

I got very lucky a few years back when a friend of mine had to move out of his house and was loathe to pack up his entire home gym. I got a full rack of dumbbells from 25-55 (rack included), a flat/incline bench, an olympic bar, 4-45's, 2-35's, 2-25's, 4-10's and 2-5's, a tree for the plates and a heavy duty but not easy to use squat rack for $400.

It is a nice setup ... scoring some good used equipment is the way to go ...

Sometimes you can score some really niced deals on craigslist. I am jealous of you guys that are in active craigslist areas.

[PaloAltoCougar]

Well, maybe I am being too hard on them. Like the powerblocks they are quick to make changes in weight. So that is a nice feature. The design is bulky ... it isn't compact at all ... that doesn't matter for 30 pounds but it does for heavier weight (although even at 30 pounds I don't like the feel or balance off them). They don't feel like real dumbbells (I also dislike this aspect of the powerblocks). They don't feel solid. They are fragile ... sure, no one should abuse their equipment but if you are working close to failure sometimes things get dropped or at least put down in a non gentle way. That mechanism won't hold up to that.

On equipment forums there have been reports of of rattling or even weights falling out. But those reports are second hand to me. I have only used the selectechs in a store. Also, only going up to 90 pounds is limiting and the original 52.5 pounds was really limiting.

The shorter answer is that they probably just way overpriced instead of garbage. If you can pick up a pair for a cheap ...

Helpful comments... The fact that they're 16" long, irrespective of weight, seems odd, and I'd be concerned about weights flying off. The max. weight doesn't bother me much, as I suspect even 52.5 would be more than enough for Mr. Burns here. I have no hope of achieving Pelagian body proportions; I'm just interested in toning. Thanks for the help.

[pelagius]

Didn't get in a full workout with them (mostly did it a the gym) but I did do dumbbell floor presses (so it was reasonably heavy) with them and was very pleased. Very solid and the weight changes are definitely quick enough for everything but supersets and drop sets. If you want to do supersets your better combining with a barbell exercise.

[falafel]

bump.

Has anyone ever seen or used a set of Hoist "quick spin" adjustable dumbbells? I've read a places how Ironmaster may have licensed their design to Hoist after Ironmaster updated their dumbbells.

Here's a short video. The plates look pretty huge.

[YOUTUBE]qTCrYu2Cxl8[/YOUTUBE]

[FN Phat]

It is a nice setup ... scoring some good used equipment is the way to go ...

Sometimes you can score some really niced deals on craigslist. I am jealous of you guys that are in active craigslist areas.

Agreed. I just scored a nice setup from my FIL but I still need to get a good bench. Any recommendations?

[pelagius]

bump.

Has anyone ever seen or used a set of Hoist "quick spin" adjustable dumbbells? I've read a places how Ironmaster may have licensed their design to Hoist after Ironmaster updated their dumbbells.

Here's a short video. The plates look pretty huge.

[YOUTUBE]qTCrYu2Cxl8[/YOUTUBE]

Yep, they are the old Ironmaster dumbbell design. So they are similar to the current ironmasters but a bit different. I am pretty sure the size is about the same. So the dumbbells are about the same size a pro-style dumbbells except the shaft is a bit longer.

[pelagius]

Agreed. I just scored a nice setup from my FIL but I still need to get a good bench. Any recommendations?

Are you looking for Flat/Incline/Decline or just Flat/Incline?

[FN Phat]

Are you looking for Flat/Incline/Decline or just Flat/Incline?

flat, incline and decline.